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Former soldiers suffering from substance abuse, trauma and other issues will receive support from a new mental health service launched by the NHS. This service is called the Veterans’ Mental Health Complex Treatment Service and will offer treatment and care to former soldiers.

The new service is backed by £3.2 million of NHS funding and will help those with the most complex needs. This new service aims to help ex-soldiers access services closer to home, rather than making them travel to receive care.

Read more on this at http://metro.co.uk/2018/03/04/nhs-launch-new-mental-health-service-soldiers-7359990

The UK Armed Forces Mental Health Annual Summary 2016/17 reported that 3.2% of UK Armed Forces personnel were assessed with a mental disorder, representing 3 in 10. This has risen in the last 10 years from 1.8% and is likely to continue increasing in time.

The demographics found that the majority of cases were relating to:

Army and RAF personnel – the lower rates of mental disorder seen among Royal Marines may be the due to the recruitment selection process, support received as a result of tight unit cohesion and high levels of preparedness for combat;

Females – this is replicated in the UK civilian population and may be a result of females being more likely to report mental health problems than males;

Other Ranks – higher educational attainment and socio-economic background are associated with lower levels of mental health disorder and this may explain differences in the rates between officers and other ranks;

Combat Stress, The UK’s leading charity for veterans’ mental health have been helping former servicemen and women deal with issues like trauma, anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder for almost a century. Combat Stress provides support to former veterans from every service and every conflict over the phone, online, in the community and at their treatment centres.

Their mission is to raise awareness that invisible injuries can be just as hard to cope with as physical ones. So when a veteran is having a tough time, Combat Stress helps to tackle the past and to help them take on the future.

You can find out more about Combat Stress and donate at https://www.combatstress.org.uk.

There is no doubt that help is on the rise for former army veterans and this new NHS initiative will continue to support our ex-soldiers in the battle of mental health.